“Alright then,” Linda said. “Let’s get you, girls, the prettiest outfits, so daddy knows what he’s missing by not being with us! He will regret leaving us like this!” Linda said, bursting into tears and her girls hugged her to comfort her.

“Dad doesn’t want to see you sad, mom. I know….” Madison whispered, patting her mom’s back.

The next day, on Brian’s birthday, the little girls wore their new outfits and held hands together as they walked to Brian’s grave. Linda was walking behind them.

Once they were in front of Brian’s gravestone, the little girls noticed two beautifully wrapped boxes with their names on them, and a small sticker on top said it was from Brian.

“Mommy!” Isla turned to Linda and said, “Look, daddy sent us gifts! He is silly! He doesn’t know we should give him gifts on his birthday,” and chuckled.

Madison gave Linda a glance that said she knew Brian couldn’t have sent them that. Dead people don’t send you gifts.

“Well, maybe he was missing his daughters. Go ahead and open the box, girls,” Linda said with an encouraging smile.

As the two girls unwrapped the boxes, Linda had to hide her tears. Isla was grinning with delight while Madison was crying for the first time since Brian’s death.

There was a lovely pair of Mary Janes and a letter from Brian in each box.

“Shoes!” chirped Isla. “They are so pretty, mommy! My favorite color…pink!”

The letter said:

“My prettiest girls,

Some angels here in heaven are surprised to see how girls can be so pretty! They say you are the most beautiful girls God ever created. Daddy can see how beautiful you look in your outfits. But I wanted to make my girls look even prettier, so I bought these shoes for you. I hope you like them.

You see, daddy is not around you, but he is always there in your heart. I know that my girls no longer eat cookies and ice creams. Don’t tell mommy, but I know she’s restocked the pantry with huge cookie boxes. I saw her doing that. Next time you visit me, I want to hear stories about how you stole them successfully behind mommy’s back. Just because daddy isn’t there does not mean we won’t trouble mommy! I want you girls to be happy and smile every day. You don’t always have to be good. I’m sure even mommy doesn’t like that.

And thank you for visiting me and wishing me a happy birthday, girls. Daddy loves you and misses you.

Sending lots of love to my lovely girls,

Brian.”

“Umm…that’s too much for me to read!” Isla complained. “Madison, what did daddy write?”

Madison hugged Elsa tightly. “He said he is happy where he is, Isla, and he wants us to be happy too. He misses us. Thank you for everything, mom,” she added, knowing the boxes were from her. “We appreciate you bringing us here.”

Linda smiled and whispered, “I love both of you,” thanking her girls for helping her step out of the grief and giving her the strength to visit Brian.

What can we learn from this story?

• Death cannot break the bonds built with love. Brian is far away from his family in the skies, but he is always present inside their hearts.
• Mothers always put their children first. While Linda was not ready to visit Brian yet, she gathered the courage to do so after seeing how badly her girls wanted to visit their father.

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